Fond memories of Abiola

Life is a hypocrite and living it is an even greater lie. It causes everyone to dance to unfamiliar rhythms and prompts a forgetfulness that is a recurrent cycle. It is factually ephemeral, and this is its realistic abstract than the concrete of the joys that we find in it. The scar from an injury may have healed, but the tortuous period of pain and pang is best described by the sufferer. Fact is, no other person can best explain a mother’s birth pain than she, who has herself laboured and later came to birth; same way as homelessness, which is not the narrative of one who dwells in palatial hacienda.

Truth has charted an unwavering cause, so that the dead can rest well where their souls are reposed, and those who are living in Judas’ denial can choose to come clean, stay dirty or have their hoary scalps interred as un-worthy sojourners to earth.

The President Who Never Ruled is the story of An African Self-Made Billionaire as written by Jamiu Abiola, the son of the late Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola – and his late wife Kudirat- the acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 general election in Nigeria. In a total of one hundred and ninety seven pages, forty four chapters and three parts, the writer takes the reader through a journey with a true insider perspective, one that is akin to an on-the-spot account in the heat of a warfare.

Records cannot but be set straight and as a Yoruba adage has it, lies could thrive for a thousand years, but truth will always have its day of reckon. The days of sober reflections are indeed here, as doubt and blurry vision are to receive emancipation from their hitherto shackles. The tragedy of liars and lies thrives in the delusion of decapitating truth for its sinister antonym, but unknowingly, the auto-decimation of pathological liars and all devious species of the human kind is as guaranteed as phenomenal constants

In this timely non-fiction, the author arouses our consciousness to the fact that, August 4, 2015 would have marked the 78th birthday of the Late Chief MKO Abiola, which is somewhat related to the same year he entered politics (1978); while his late wife, Kudirat Abiola would have turned 63 years, but the annulment of the June 12, 1993 elections on June 23 of the same year, by the Ibrahim Babangida led military administration leaves Nigerians with rhetorics that one hopes will soon become answered questions some day.

Jamiu Abiola rightly corrects the wrongs of near-established untruths and assumptions and does it brilliantly by piecing the past to the present, in a bid to offer, unmistakably, the Absolute Truth about his father, as well as his mother, thus providing a template of integrity and a Sanskrit of honesty for those whose zest and thirst for the unbiased account remain effervescence.

The beauty of this narrative fact takes the reader to the background of the The late Chief MKO Abiola, whose demonstration of precocious attributes strikes a chord, because such innate perception is a rarity in many of his age then and even as of now. Salawu and Zuliat Abiola-his parents- would not have asked for a greater gift from their creator, especially with the losses his parents suffered in having children, before he eventually became “something that was witnessed” (Moshood).

The author moves controllably through various stages in his father’s life and presents to the reader another era which generated huge controversies. The ITT years brought with it its grass to grace accounts, and unlike what was peddled in hushed tones and songs, the late MKO Abiola Worked hard and long as a trained accountant and as an astute businessman to attain the height he reached and made the money that was his.

His relationship with the Nigerian Military was set on course when the Ministry of Defense owed the organization he worked for –ITT- a whopping 3.5million Pounds. Having started the journey with the telecoms giants on April 1, 1969, Abiola went on to be the lifeline for the organization over a long period of success. His success at helping to repatriate company funds redefined his status, and this propelled him further towards healthier ambitions.

The persons of the former Chief of staff of the Nigerian Army, Brigadier Usman Katsina; the permanent Secretary at the ministry of Defence then, Mr. Yusuf Gobir and the Army Signals Inspector, the late Lt. Col. Murtala Mohammed featured. Each of these men played key roles in all that led to Moshood’s early breakthrough and as the saying goes, the deeds of men live with them and in-fact outlive them.

On page 70, paragraph 4, the author writes:

“… Moshood, in his thirties, became one of Africa’s richest men. His orientation changed completely afterward and his main interest became a quest for an ideological meaning to life”

It was at this juncture that his ideals emerged. He needed to do more and that he would not be stopped by any opposition in sight. Moshood may would have rested on his oars, but the poverty in the country caused him to want to do more as he was the epitome of philanthropy. Jamiu Abiola in this factual account reveals the very fabric of his father’s personality, as his weakness was in strengthening others in need.

The demise of Murtala Mohammed, an honest man resulted in another turn for ITT. Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, who was later the Head of State, neglected the communications firm had thrived under the headship of an administration that was accountable, but he however kept government expenditure low, which was a noted positive.

The chronicle of “The President Who Never Ruled” also examines the presidential aspiration of the acclaimed winner of the 1993 general election. Although he suffered a crushing defeat at the party’s convention in Benue while under the banner of NPN, he did not decamp. Shehu Shagari however won the election and took over the reins from Obasanjo in 1979. Having finished his first term, a second term was guaranteed for the Shehu Shagari led government, but five months into the administration it was toppled, on December 31 1983 by General Mohammadu Buhari.

On page 78, last paragraph, Abiola said of Shagari’s government:

“The fact is now glaringly evident that among the factors which contributed most significantly to the demise of the Second Republic was the absence was any objective and critical assessment of is workings while it lasted.”

The defining moments in the late MKO Abiola’s political career opened when he won at the presidential convention held on March 27, 1993. Alhaji Baba Gana Kingibe- who later vied as Abiola’s vice presidential candidate – and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar were defeated by Abiola to be the Social Democratic Party (SDP) flag bearer. Although, the late Alhaji Shehu Yar’adua supported Atiku Abubakar, his bid to have him as Abiola’s vice presidential flag bearer did not succeed, thus causing a rift between Abiola and the Yar’ardua team. It was also mentioned, that though the military gave green light in allowing democracy reign, the Head of State then, General Ibrahim Babangida wanted Pascal Bafyau, who was the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress to be Abiola’s running mate.

HOPE 93 however left many Nigerians hopeless, beginning from the appointment of Chief Tony Anenih by Alhaji Yar’ardua as SDP chairman. It must be stated, that names are as important as our legacies, which is why the role played by the likes of Arthur Nzeribe – Association for Better Nigeria; Bassey Ikpeme, who ruled that the election must not take place; Dahiru Saleh, that prevented Professor Nwosu from releasing the election result.

Former Head of State, Ibrahim Babangida, under whose administration the cataclysm held sway and the inventor of the interim government scheme; to Chief Ernest Shonekan, whose inability to say no is at best treacherous to a kinsman; to Baba Gana Kingibe; who deserted his fellow flag bearer for obvious pecuniary passion; to the late General Sani Abacha, under whose machination Alfred Rewane became history, Kudirat Abiola was assassinated, Abiola incarcerated and the hope of Nigerians became concretely lacerated and mutilated. General Abdulsalami Abubakar also played a role by his refusal to release the late MKO Abiola even after other political prisoners were released from detention. This to the Abiola family has casts him in the light of those whose names and legacies must be forgotten as long as the family’s pains still linger.

Jamiu Abiola has through this work un-earthed what many Nigerians may love to forget or at best remember every twelfth day in the month of June. The impact of the huge loss of both parents on a young university graduate as of then and how this painful exit still leaves an unfilled gap in the lives of their children and Nigerians will move one to tears and sober the reader up.

It is needful to state, that the unforgettable role played by his wife, the Late Kudirat Abiola is a huge attestation to a woman, who lived her life for a just cause, her husband and thus her memory definitely indelible.

This collector’s item written in episodic plot makes for very interesting and effortless read and as the experiences shared gives the reader an unquestionable and scintillating perspective, we need to ask how we hope to be honourably remembered.

This is the honour in reverence of the late Chief MKO Abiola and his wife, Kudirat Abiola, whose impact sure resonates here on earth and in without a doubt, in the hereafter.